The Real Deal New York

Normandy, Keystone to buy LIC dev site for $40M-plus

From left: David Welsh, Jonathan Zamir and 25-11 49th Avenue in Long Island City

Normandy Real Estate Partners and Jonathan Zamir’s Keystone Equities are in contract to acquire a Long Island City development site with more than 200,000 buildable square feet for north of $40 million, sources told The Real Deal.

The developers are considering an expansion and conversion of the two-story, 140,000-square-foot industrial building at 25-11 49th Avenue into modern offices and retail, sources said. But they have not yet decided on their plans.

The deal, were it to close at that price, would come out to about $200 per buildable square foot.

The seller, Candid Litho Printing, is also the largest tenant at the property, which houses four other companies. All existing tenants have long-term leases, sources said. Property records show Candid Litho paid $11.7 million for the building in 2007.

Office rents in Long Island City average in the mid-$30s per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Also in the neighborhood, Westbrook Partners and Andrew Chung’s Innovo Property Group closed in July on the $195 million purchase of a warehouse at 24-02 49th Avenue. Cosmetics maker Mana Products put its warehouse at 27-11 49th Avenue on the market for $65 million last year, but later opted not to sell it.

Normandy, a Morristown, N.J.-based firm, is also in contract to sell a 12-story Chelsea office building to a Swiss pension fund for $150 million.